MINOR CARNIVORA. 145 



If this be correct, it would, of course, be of no 

 advantage to the plant to immolate its insect visitor, 

 as what it would gain in one way it would lose in 

 another. Indeed, we have not found any dead bodies 

 of insects in the tubes of the Hellebore, such as one 

 may find so frequently in the pitchers of Nepenthes or 

 Sarracenia. Hence, then, as a rule it would be of 

 no advantage to the plant to indulge in animal food. 

 But it does not necessarily follow that the plant 

 in question has therefore no such power, or that it 

 does not exert it on occasion. 



In the case of the Hellebore, the tubular petals 

 were filled with very finely-chopped cooked meat, 

 leaving some of the tubes unfilled for contrast-sake. 

 The microscopic appearance of the normal petals 

 was noticed, and the reaction of the juice with litmus 

 paper tried. 



In the normal tube there are certain cells filled 

 with yellow juice, which is diffused throughout the 

 whole interior of the cell. But after the insertion 

 of the meat, and its retention for some days, the 

 yellow-cell contents were found to be compacted 

 together into a globose ball ; at least, in the case 

 of those cells nearest to the meat, those at a distance 

 showed the contents diffused. Moreover, the fibre 

 of the meat may be seen reduced to a pulp, and 

 under the microscope its constituent fibres may be 

 seen disintegrated, and the peculiar striations cha- 



L 



